Direct Payments to Farmers (Legislative Continuity) Bill

Does clause 1(3) include the higher level stewardship regime, or is that part of a separate settl...

It includes the basic payment scheme. Only direct payments are in the Bill’s scope, and that incl...

Chelmsford is largely an urban constituency, but when I visited one of my local farms just before...

The Bill will absolutely give them that certainty. The Bill is essential if we are to give farmer...

Will the Minister confirm that as we move on to the new policy, there will be an emphasis on grow...

My right hon. Friend will be aware that we have presented a separate Agriculture Bill, which has ...

My hon. Friend the Member for Chelmsford (Vicky Ford) mentioned the need for certainty in her ara...

I very much agree with my hon. Friend. The Bill will give certainty and clarity about this year t...

The Minister’s own Department’s figures recognise that 85% of livestock farm income comes through...

It is important to recognise that a significant proportion of sheep farmers in particular do not ...

Does the Minister agree that there is a balance to be struck between incentivising productivity a...

My hon. Friend makes a very important point. It is all about striking the right balance. The prem...

My hon. Friend is being characteristically generous in giving way. I hope he will agree with me, ...

My hon. Friend makes an important point. Obviously, that is not a matter for this Bill, but our p...

The Minister says that there will be complete continuity of the basic farm payment over the comin...

My hon. Friend makes an important point, and I will come on to that when I describe some of the r...

Can the Minister remind the House how, in the implementation period, we will avoid having to pay ...

As my right hon. Friend will be aware, under the financial settlement in the withdrawal agreement...

There is an argument that for many years the UK has actually contributed much more to the common ...

My hon. Friend will remember the debate that took place in 2016. The UK has typically received ba...

Further to the intervention from my right hon. Friend the Member for Wokingham (John Redwood), an...

It is complicated—as ever—with the common agricultural policy, but I tried to explain this point ...

Am I right in saying that the Welsh Government take 15% of the direct payment away from farmers a...

Yes, my hon. Friend is right. Under the common agricultural policy, there is provision for someth...

Climate change is a threat that we must all take action to tackle, and my constituents and farmer...

Yes—my hon. Friend makes a very important point. As we chart a new course on agriculture policy, ...

In Beaconsfield, we are still very keen to receive these payments, and the Minister is right to b...

If my hon. Friend writes to me on the specific issues for the chicken producer that she mentions,...

It is very welcome to us in Cheltenham that in future the Government plan to use state support to...

The Agriculture Bill, which is a matter for future discussion, envisages in clause 1 that we woul...

The Minister talked about having a lighter touch, in terms of moving to a warning letter rather t...

My hon. Friend makes an important point, which links to something I said earlier about the remova...

As a former Parliamentary Private Secretary to my hon. Friend, I am pretty forensic on these matt...

My hon. Friend makes an important point. All of us—officials in Whitehall, Members of this House,...

I just want to say well done to the Minister. It is really uplifting that there is something posi...

I thank my right hon. Friend for that comment. He and I have taken a similar view of pan-European...

Many upland sheep farmers, particularly in my constituency, will welcome not only the extra year ...

Yes, my hon. Friend makes a very important point. Today’s Bill today simply brings across the exi...

Now we are getting rid of the cosh of legal threat hanging over our hard-working farming communit...

There are several important schemes, such as the Government-funded Farm Advisory Service and the ...

The Minister will have seen the Scottish Affairs Committee report on agriculture in Scotland. It ...

Obviously we will work with the devolved Administrations on future funding. The Bill—in later cla...

The Minister talked about public goods. As a veterinary surgeon, I am proud to say that in Penrit...

Yes, my hon. Friend makes a very important point. As I have said, we have a manifesto commitment ...

Order. For the sake of clarity and because new Members are present who might be concerned about s...

Thank you, Dame Eleanor.

The Bill also covers the horizontal regulation, which governs the ...

Does my hon. Friend agree that these proposals show how the Government are leading the fight on c...

Yes, my hon. Friend makes a very important point, and that is why we have set a very different co...

Farming in South Suffolk is fairly horizontal—fairly flat—so I welcome these regulations. On a ke...

There is no currency risk for British farmers in this year, because the total size of the budget ...

Will my hon. Friend tell us a little more about the legal provisions enabling amendments and corr...

My hon. Friend has made an important point. Let me say two things. First, clause 3, which I was g...

I think it important to learn the lessons of our involvement in the common agricultural policy ov...

I agree that we must learn the lessons of the common agricultural policy. Having dealt with it fo...

Does my hon. Friend agree that those like me who have smallholdings are often overwhelmed by the ...

Every month I have to deal with appeals lodged by farmers following decisions made against them i...

I do not think that anyone will disagree with the Minister about the need to get rid of overt bur...

The hon. Gentleman makes an important point—a number of others have raised it—about the importanc...

I know I am pushing the boundaries slightly, but was the Minister at all concerned by the comment...

The political declaration was very clear, and it is implicit in the withdrawal agreement that we ...

A moment ago, my hon. Friend was setting out the timetable for applying for the new basic payment...

For this year, the 2020 year, the payment window will be exactly the same as in previous years. T...

On that point, I have a farmer in my constituency who is still waiting for his basic payment from...

That is a matter for the Welsh Government. I know that the RPA has had its issues in the past. Al...

I am grateful to the Minister for this information and for the insight, albeit at a slightly high...

I can say that, for the Bill before us today, we have received legislative consent motions for ev...

Regarding tribunals and disputed claims, are we going to set up a temporary agricultural tribunal...

My hon. Friend makes an important point. The short answer is that we have an appeals system in pl...

On the matter of disputes, when it comes to funding allocations between the different Governments...

In terms of our discussions with the devolved Administrations, these are issues that we resolve t...

I am sure the whole House is grateful to the Minister for his extended and detailed account of cl...

The hon. Gentleman gets to the nub of the argument about equivalence, animal welfare and general ...

I am sure that we will return to this issue over the coming weeks and months. We hear what the Go...

The hon. Gentleman is making some important points. As things stand, we are certain that the BPS ...

I suspect that discussion will continue, but the hon. Gentleman makes an important point. As I sa...

It is a great pleasure to call the newly re-elected Chairman of the Select Committee on Environme...

I thank Members for reappointing me as Chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee...

Does my hon. Friend agree that, on this question of rural payments, many of the changes needed ar...

My hon. Friend raises a good point. If I interpret the Minister correctly, there will be much mor...

Does my hon. Friend agree that farmers in my constituency are at somewhat of a disadvantage, in t...

I very much welcome my new hon. Friend—it is great to have her here representing Brecon and Radno...

Obviously, I congratulate my hon. Friend on his re-election success. I very much agree with him t...

I welcome my hon. Friend’s comment, because he is absolutely right. I see a problem in the future...

At the risk of repeating myself, I am going to repeat myself. The Bill is needed only as a result...

I welcome the Bill for several reasons. First, it provides us all with an opportunity, in this in...

That’s Cheltenham!

Yes, chalk land, just like the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Cheltenham (Alex Cha...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for North Dorset (Simon Hoare). I congratulate the hon...

I am sure that my hon. Friend agrees that family farms are a structure that is to be found across...

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. I agree wholeheartedly, and will go into that shortl...

I have very much enjoyed the observations from around these islands in this debate. I would like ...

I wish to address some of the points raised by hon. Members, including the shadow Minister, who t...

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time.

I thank the House for the debate o...

I am going to try once more to get an answer from the Minister. We will not be paying into the co...

I am sorry that I was not able to address my hon. Friend’s point previously. We will not be contr...

I thank the Minister for repeating what he said in Committee of the whole House. There is cross-p...

On the point about the importance of this transfer, does the hon. Gentleman feel that it is very ...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for that comment. This goes to the heart of some of the debates that m...

I thank the Minister for his contributions, but I was saddened that he chose not to answer any of...

I listened carefully to what the hon. Lady said and have taken a moment to digest it. She mention...

We are talking specifically about the payments that are being made at the moment, so I am not rea...

Adding to comments that others have made, this is undoubtedly necessary legislation and we certai...

It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron), who speaks ...

Does my hon. Friend accept that, while it is important that any payment system to farmers be dire...

I thank my right hon. Friend for his intervention and agree wholeheartedly with him.

Direct...

The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. Surely this underlines the importance of ensuring that we ...

Absolutely. The Government and the Minister have ensured today that the regional Administrations ...

It is a great pleasure to speak on Third Reading, and to follow the hon. Member for Strangford (J...